Disability Activists Criticize UCSD

Students, faculty, and activists are expressing their frustration toward the UC system for inadequate accommodations and lack of representation for the disabled community, especially at UC San Diego (UCSD).

According to a November 2020 report gathered from UC Office of the President (UCOP) data and UC campuses’ Disabled Student Services (DSS) offices, the percentage of UC students who received accommodations, such as to help a physical condition or a mental health concern, has increased between 2017 and 2020. The report also finds that the financial resources allocated to support students with disabilities has not grown with the number of students receiving accommodations.

Brian Goldfarb, an Associate Professor and Chair for the Department of Communication, told The Triton that the University lacks resources to adequately aid students with disabilities. He stated that the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD) is currently understaffed, which contributes to the inadequate accommodations received by students with disabilities.

Goldfarb described the University’s failure to adequately accommodate students with disabilities, saying, “faculty and departments often lack the resources to address the accommodations that OSD authorizes for students with disabilities.”

Erika Johnson, Assistant Director of University Communications, told The Triton “the Office for Students with Disabilities is not understaffed. Our work is augmented through partnerships across campus within academic divisions, student affairs, facilities, housing, dining, parking and more.”

Goldfarb also noted the University should do more than just focus on accommodations. “The campus should be working to embrace differences in ability and counter ableist ideas and practices,” Goldfarb said. “This entails viewing disability as everyone’s concern.”

Syreeta Nolan, a disability advocate who has co-founded organizations such as Disabled at UCSD and the nonprofit Justice, Advocacy, and Disability Education (JADE), has worked to increase awareness surrounding the lack of resources available to students with disabilities on campus and at the UC level. Nolan is a Class of 2021 graduate and received the Inclusive Excellence Award at UCSD for her activism.

Nolan’s initiatives include the creation of a disability studies minor and a disability resource center, as well as communicating with the university to implement a disability studies minor in partnership with the Ethnic Studies Department. She hopes the minor can develop into its own major or have graduate studies components one day.

Both Nolan and Goldfarb agree that studying students with disabilities academically can help prevent ableism in the workplace and in educational environments.

UCSD has a history of criticism about its failure to accommodate students with disabilities. In April 2017, Shahram Jazirian sued Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and the UC Regents, alleging that the school failed to accommodate his disability throughout his undergraduate years at the University. Jazirian attended UCSD from 2012 to 2015.

According to Jazirian, the University refused his accommodations, which caused him to be on academic probation and losing his financial aid. Court documents showed university employees referred to him as “Michael Myers,” the main antagonist of the Halloween film series, in several emails and suggested that Jazirian should go to a homeless shelter after losing his financial aid.

Jazirian lost the case later that year. In December 2017, Judge Joan Lewis ruled Jazirian was an “unqualified individual” because he did not meet academic requirements and failed to provide the documentation needed for the requested accommodations.

In another case, Krys Mendez wrote an open letter to Dr. Becky Pettit, Vice-Chancellor for Equity, Diversion, and Inclusion, where he explained his experience as a UCSD graduate student who didn’t receive fair accommodations from UCSD. He stated, “The university’s inadequate system for handling disability made me sicker and drove me to the ER.”

Students and staff are making efforts to improve accommodations for the disability community on campus. In 2020, graduate researcher Marina Nakhla and faculty member Adam Fields created a Disability Honor Society. Nakhla and Fields wanted “to provide opportunities for peer mentorship support and networking, create student advocates and ensure that OSD follows through with all approved accommodations for students.”

In a statement to The Triton, Nakhla shared her experience as a UCSD student with a disability. She stated she needed accommodations such as “accessibility around campus.” She noted UCSD offers Triton Mobility Services, but she has encountered challenges when using it.

“I have to schedule pick ups and drop offs in advance with exact times,” Nakhla said when explaining her experience with Triton Mobility Services. Since she is engaged in research and clinical work, her work times vary and can be changed at the last minute, so using UCSD’s mobility services that require scheduling exact times can be inconvenient for her.

Shakur Collins, a member of the Disability Honor Society along with Nakhla, also shared her experience in a statement to The Triton.

“My biggest challenge by far at UCSD was how dismissive faculty and staff can be when trying to obtain my accommodations,” Collins stated. She claimed UCSD does not promote the “equitable learning environment” they say they do.

“At my community college, one [electronic magnifier] was provided for me, but UCSD said that in order for me to use that accommodation, I would need to purchase my own magnifier, which can range from $600 to thousands of dollars,” Collins said.

In addition to the Disability Honor Society, another organization on campus is the Transdisciplinary Disability Studies (TDS) research group, whose focus is to “examine and expand the possibilities for new inter-and transdisciplinary theoretical models for approaching disability and assessing conventional models for understanding disability.” According to TDS, before their inception in 2016, there was no group that supported transdisciplinary collaboration at UCSD.

“UCSD claims to value diversity, equity, and inclusion within their policies, but there is a clear disconnect between what the policy says and how campus life really is,” Collins said.

Vanessa Gaeta-Munoz is a Junior News Editor for The Triton. You can follow her @_vnsgg.